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Grouse breed in the wild, so numbers cannot be augmented as easily as pheasants and partridge, most of which are reared and then released by gamekeepers to be hunted.

Robert Benson, the chairman of the Moorland Association, said pre-season counts of grouse in England showed that numbers were up.

“Generally, at long last, for the first time in the last few years, we’ve had a reasonable nesting and hatching period, with good chick survival.”

CKD Galbraith, the rural property and estates agency, said that in Scotland, where it has been dry and warm most of the ­summer, it could be “one of the best seasons for many years”.

Some moorland managers have delayed the start of their shoots because of the late fledging of the birds, but this means shooting could carry on later into the year.

The chance of a plentiful season led to animal-welfare campaigners claiming that grouse-shooting “turns the picturesque moorlands into bloody killing fields”.

The RSPB is concerned that gamekeepers illegally kill rare birds of prey to protect grouse.

Figures released in the past few days showed that no hen harriers successfully nested in England, pushing the bird of prey to the brink of extinction in the country. However, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust recently published data showing that gamekeepers can help ­populations of both birds of prey and rare wading birds to thrive by controlling foxes and crows.

The warm weather has also been ripening plenty of berries, meaning wildlife should be able to fatten up for the winter, and keen foragers can stock up on blackberries.

Dr Kate Lewthwaite, of the Woodland Trust, who manages a public survey known as Nature’s Calendar to gauge the effect of climate change on wildlife, said that already people were noticing lot of berries growing.

“Although our records suggest that autumn fruiting will be late this year due to the delayed onset of spring flowering, if the warm weather interspersed with occasional wet spells continues this should mean the fruiting of shrubs like bramble, rowan and blackthorn is abundant,” she said. “Wildlife species will no doubt benefit from a bumper crop, and finally fruit-eating birds and mammals will be able to enjoy an autumn feast.”

For the early part of the week temperatures are forecast to remain around 71.6F (22C), with thundery showers, rain and sunny spells until Wednesday. There could be localised flooding and transport disruption caused by the downpours.

However, on Thursday, warm air is due to arrive from the south, with temperatures rising back up to 78.8F (26C), or higher in the South East in the sunny spells between cloudy periods.